karl.tsakos.us/blog

As any gardener knows, this year the tomato blight is out of control. As my Mother has told me, all tomato plants get blight, so be prepared. Unfortunately, this year is one of the worst for it. The weather has been cool and rainy for most of the summer, the dreaded blight’s favorite conditions.

New Jersey, which gains much revenue from their tomato harvest, has been very hard hit. Apparently, they have had to sacrifice the majority of their crops. Conventional wisdom is once the plant has it, get rid of the plant. I am trying to buck conventional wisdom. Being the inexperienced gardener I am, I have excuses to experiment blindly.

For one thing I refuse to give up on my plants. Instead of removing any plants showing leaves that dry over night, I am removing the offending branches. As a result, my plants have most of their foliage about two feet above the ground. That’s a good thing as the blight can be transfered to the leaves from soil that splashes on the plants in the rain.

My method of preventative maintenance likewise bucks convention. I have never been a fan of chemicals (they’re scary) and don’t like the idea of spraying my food with any. After some research on the Internet, I came up with the plan of spraying the plants weekly or after a rain with a solution of one part milk and seven parts water. Milk is a sort of fungicide. In addition, tomato plants can always benefit from calcium, so it the runoff is also beneficial.

I have no idea if this will work, but I have my fingers crossed.

I’m still waiting for a tomato to ripen. I have several large tomatoes right on the brink of ripening. At the moment it’s a race of time. I’ve already lost two tomatoes to the blight. I know because they were far from ripening and were going bad from the stem. Stupid blight.

All I want is to make a salad of heirloom tomatoes with some olive oil on them. Of all the plants I planted this year, this is the one real goal I had. The tomatoes are it. Everything else was just for the sake of seeing what would grow. Turns out, most things. That’s not to say I haven’t enjoyed my harvested plants thus far. I have thoroughly. I have enjoyed everything from the prepping the garden beds, to selecting the plants, to starting them from seed and watching them grow. The joy of eating what I’ve grown has been a pleasure.

It’s just that I really want to eat my own, home grown tomatoes. That’s not too much to ask. Is it?

Right now, I’m sitting in the back yard with a warm July breeze blowing and a nice cold Gin and Tonic. In the Kitchen the beets and carrots from my garden are roasting in the oven with rosemary, garlic, oil, and vinegar. The pasta water is heating and I’ll check it soon. This is going to be an experimental dish. I forgot to get some lamb chops to go with the veggies. We’ll see how it goes.*

It’s been brought to my attention recently that I don’t blog about anything but my garden. That’s something that has been lingering in the back of my mind as well. I know I have other things to say, but now, as I sit down to write, the garden is the topic that pleases me the most. I’m sure I will return to writing about other things when I start spending less time outside. Two cases in point: the band is very close to being done recording and then I will have lots to talk about with that and, I’m working on a video podcast but I want to have a couple of episodes under my belt before I launch it.

So, we are left with the garden for the time being.

Did you know potato plants bear fruit? I didn’t know that either. No, I’m not talking about the potatoes themselves, those are tubers. Actual growths on the stem under ground. The plants themselves produce flowers and from the flowers small green tomato like things grow.

As a matter of fact, both plants are closely related. That is of course why their names both end in “ato.” Actually, I just made that up. The potato’s latin name is “Solanum Tuberosum, “ and the tomato’s is “Solanum Lycopersicm.” They are both members of the nightshade family – the deadly nightshade family. And, while tomatoes are edible, the stems, leaves, and fruit of potato plants all contain glycoalkaloids, most prevalent of which are solanine and chaconine. These poisons affect the nervous system resulting in weakness and confusion. And, of course, could result in death.

I just love growing plants that both produce an enjoyable edible component and something that might kill me all at the same time.

Speaking of edible members of deadly plant families, my tomato plants are out of control! The ones I started are all about two and a half feet tall. The plants my mother gave me are over three feet tall. And not only have they all started flowering, but several are growing tomatoes. And, speaking of growing, my cucumber plants have also started flowering and producing little spiny cucumbers.

I striped out the sugar snap plants, which were dying, and removed their trellis. The bed is now fully occupied by the cucumbers and potato plants. That and a lone pepper plant that deiced it was going to try and survive despite being hidden under the cucumber plant. Oh, and the bean plants I planted are now producing beans.

More to come on the garden and other topics. I promise.

* For the record, the pasta with grilled carrots and beets was delicious. Some of the garlic was a little burnt, but other than that it was just right.